I am a retired Army officer (field artillery and chaplain) who is a new SM. I am affiliated with a new cadet squadron (tonight is their 5th meeting). I have been assigned duties as the Communications Officer and the Emergency Services Officer. I will also be conducting Character Development training.

Looking for advice on how to set up an ES program and Communications in this new unit. Anyone?

1 - Start with your Group or Wing ES folks,2 - Make a list of nearby military installations and the potential for cross training opportunities,3 - If you have access to other local ES teams, both Patrol and non CAP, consider joint training,4 - design a multi year plan, including one week a month squadron meeting training, at least one winter and one summer field exercise and recruit help!

Congrats and thanks for jumping in, you will make a real difference in your cadets futures by your efforts.

Welcome to the CAP. Although not the main subject of your post, but since you mentioned you will be conducting Character Development sessions, and in case you had not yet been made aware, you will first need to complete the Training Leader of Cadets (TLC) and the Basic Instructor Course (BIC), along with a letter of recommendation, prior to submitting your signed application (Form 35A) for becoming a Character Development Instructor (CDI). You may want to consult regulation 265-1 for further info.

If your ecclesiastical endorsement and education meet the requirements, thenbecoming a CAP Chaplain may be a more expedient route, but that has some expectations as well.

Beyond that for ES look to CAPP 213 and for Comms CAPP 214.

You should also look to compete your GES, and ICUT. By that point you should have 100 more questions for your mentors, which should have been assigned to you by your CC, and will probably need to come from higher HQ.

Frankly, any one of the above if asking a lot for a brand new member, you should probably concentrate on one and leave the others for someone else.

2. The overarching plan is: individual training (to the manuals tasks), followed by small unit/team training on a Field Training Exercise (FTX), followed by combined arms training with a base staff, air component, etc. Two "missions" are required on top of individual task completions for certification (some Wings define "mission" as a full up numbered practice mission, others define it in far looser terms based on local needs - ask your chain).

3. There are ES specialty qual records ("SQTRs") available in Eservices Ops Quals module to record and track training for credit/approval. As a new guy, you are not approved to sign off any training until you yourself are rated, experienced (1 year minimum with rating, and I usually demand more experience but case-by-case... if you've ability and prior DoD experience, usually the minimum works out). Nothing stands in the way of you CONDUCTING (not yet approving) the training, as long as you do it to task/condition/standards. Then find an approved evaluator to test your troops. My closing point here: as the unit ES officer you are primarily the action officer for training management (planning, scheduling, organization, tracking, submittal, etc.), not necessarily the subject matter expert responsible for conduct and evaluation of the training.

4. On joint training: fantastic idea, yet be careful. Our standards are not 1:1 with most DoD or other volunteer orgs. I would recommend reserving partnering/joint training until well after you've hooked up with your Wing and Group mentors, and have established a "battle rhythm" in managing your training to CAP standards. THEN, reach out to build local relationships, and schedule joint drills. The last thing you want is to schedule a joint class, complete it, and find out that your people wasted their time and cash on something that (while fun) didn't meet our standards for certs.

5. Which leads me to sum up with the holistic stuff. Why, in these days of greatly improved air safety and reduced need for CAP ground teams, do we do this training with cadets, when comparatively few will actually be employed? The reason that I'd point to reaches back to Lord Baden-Powell, who recognized the need for hands on, challenging outdoors activities as part of the mentoring, socialization, and maturation process for young men as they learn self discipline, teamwork, etc. In a larger sense, emergency services training for cadets is more useful (these days) as yet another, highly motivational, classroom venue to present the leadership lab element of the cadet program. Seen in that light, and although I've employed qualified cadets in missions for decades with great results, I'm pleased if we see the end product of the training as a motivated, "switched-on" young man or woman who, having taken the training, is better prepped for challenge.

All wonderful advice and info above. But take a deep breath, relax, and ponder something else. Make it fun. These are not 18 year olds in military Boot Camp, who have signed their lives away. These are 'kids' some starting as early as 12 year olds. Little boys and girls. They don't join to become leaders. They join to have fun with other 'kids'. NOW ... yes, we want to train them to be leaders. But don't overwhelm them from day one. Everything CAP does can be made into fun activites. Even drill, if approached correctly.

CAPP 213 Emergency Services Officer is extremely out of date. Speaking of which...anyone have any information on the rewrite? I mentioned it to Lt Col Demaris at NESA and basically it is in the works. I got the idea that the general framework is complete. Was it scuttled or put on the back burner?

This is where etodd and I probably respectfully depart ways. I wouldn't shut down the nations defense because someone didn't update some field manuals or regulations to cover insurgent use of UAVs or something. Neither would I recommend halting the CAP ES training process because the process to gain professional development (promotion) credit for doing so wasn't clear and current.

If you're in this for the mission (as opposed to getting credit for your professional development) then I'd urge you to locally adapt and overcome, using available resources, to the training and operations standards available.

I wouldn't shut down the nations defense because someone didn't update some field manuals ......

Hardly a comparison. The world will not come to an end if I don't complete ESO training. ROTFL But of course your advice to the OP is spot on.

My use of the word 'scuttled' was a bad choice. "delayed' would be better. I've checked off most everything on the list except for the parts that don't exist anymore. At some point either Hdqs will revamp CAPP 213, or I'll get around to having the Evaluator to mark them N/A and finish up. No hurry on my part.

The parts that don't exist were waived several years ago formally, and in writing by NHQ.

So that written waiver from SEVERAL years ago should have been added as an addendum to CAPP 213 so that folks like me who joined in the interim would see such. It takes 30 seconds to add a page to a pdf file. Another example where there are truly 'no excuses' that can be given. Its just sloppy. Typical governmental bureaucratic inefficiency.

I guess I've been in the business world too long, where things get done quickly and efficiently to survive and succeed. This govt stuff drives me nuts. OK ... rant over.

CAPP 213 Emergency Services Officer is extremely out of date. Speaking of which...anyone have any information on the rewrite? I mentioned it to Lt Col Demaris at NESA and basically it is in the works. I got the idea that the general framework is complete. Was it scuttled or put on the back burner?

Thanks...

It is neither scuttled nor put on the back burner. I just gave my thoughts on the draft 213 just a week or so ago.

CAPP 213 Emergency Services Officer is extremely out of date. Speaking of which...anyone have any information on the rewrite? I mentioned it to Lt Col Demaris at NESA and basically it is in the works. I got the idea that the general framework is complete. Was it scuttled or put on the back burner?

Thanks...

It is neither scuttled nor put on the back burner. I just gave my thoughts on the draft 213 just a week or so ago.

I've been hearing of drafts of CAPP 213 since I joined in 2009. This is one of our problems, total inability to move quickly to adapt

I've been hearing of drafts of CAPP 213 since I joined in 2009. This is one of our problems, total inability to move quickly to adapt

Well if you told the folks that if they got the new CAPP 213 completed and online, that they would be able to stand up in their purdy starched blues at the National Convention and get their photo taken while receiving a certificate for it ... it would get done in less than a week.

CAPP 213 Emergency Services Officer is extremely out of date. Speaking of which...anyone have any information on the rewrite? I mentioned it to Lt Col Demaris at NESA and basically it is in the works. I got the idea that the general framework is complete. Was it scuttled or put on the back burner?

Thanks...

It is neither scuttled nor put on the back burner. I just gave my thoughts on the draft 213 just a week or so ago.

I've been hearing of drafts of CAPP 213 since I joined in 2009. This is one of our problems, total inability to move quickly to adapt

Well if you told the folks that if they got the new CAPP 213 completed and online, that they would be able to stand up in their purdy starched blues at the National Convention and get their photo taken while receiving a certificate for it ... it would get done in less than a week.

I've been hearing of drafts of CAPP 213 since I joined in 2009. This is one of our problems, total inability to move quickly to adapt

Well if you told the folks that if they got the new CAPP 213 completed and online, that they would be able to stand up in their purdy starched blues at the National Convention and get their photo taken while receiving a certificate for it ... it would get done in less than a week.